Undersheriff says holiday accidents down in county

ARENAC COUNTY — Arenac County Sheriff’s Department Undersheriff Donald McIntyre said the number of incidents in the county during Memorial Day weekend were down this year and have been trending down for the past few years.

McIntyre said he believes a poor state economy and high fuel prices are the main cause of the current trend.

“I believe there are fewer people making trips north,” he said. “This is something we have been seeing happen over the past few years.”

McIntyre said the number of daily accidents and other incidents have been known to double or triple during the summer, but the decreasing number of travelers has reduced activity for the Sheriff’s Department.

“Now we are handling a few minor things,” he said. “There are still the people who come up camping and cut loose. They still think because they are ‘up north’ they can get wild.”

Although there are fewer accidents, McIntyre said less traffic is not a good sign for the local economy.

“It’s really quite sad,” he said. “Our local businesses are not seeing nearly as much business as they used to.”

McIntyre said he expects that the traffic for the Fourth of July weekend will still be high.

“Although a lot of our weekends are down, that is the one that has stayed busy,” he said. “We will be out in full force.”